OP here...

I'm on D4 and already down 5 lbs which I assume is lack of bloating, but it's encouraging me to keep on!

I am a huge diet soda addict, and I expected major withdrawal, but it's really been fine so far.

The reason I haven't been able to lose weight despite trying for over a year is because I'm really bad at saying to just those few M&Ms or that little piece of candy my boss is offering me or that one slide of cheese at a work party... all those little things add up. For me, going the extreme route of just saying no 100% of the time may make the difference, I think. No, it's not going to be maintainable long-term, but if it helps get me on the right track, great!

As others have mentioned, my biggest struggle so far as been the time to plan and cook meals. And meal fatigue. I work full-time and have young children so meals need to be simple. There are a lot of great Whole 30 recipes out there but ones that require easy to find ingredients and limited time? Not as many. And plain fruits, veggies and meats are getting tiring even after just four days.

But... I really am going to try to make it the whole 30 days. I've been shocked to learn that foods I thought were healthy (deli meats for instance) actually have loads of added sugar, etc. This is a good education for me about true healthy eating.

I did a modified Whole 30 - had dairy for my coffee, for example. For me, it's more about cutting out sugar and bread/rice/pasta, and eating more veggies. I tend to cook most things from scratch anyhow, aside from bacon and sausage, so that aspect of it (getting away from processed food) isn't as important to me.

I felt pretty good on the Whole 30, and kept it up to an extent with healthier grains added in here and there, until life got stressful and I added back bad eating habits! Stopped going to the gym, and wham, weight gain.

I think it's great to do it as a re-boot to cut down on sugar and excess carbs. It's not terribly hard if you plan ahead and can do some batch cooking, but it got repetitive for me because I couldn't come up with more ideas for meals - too busy w/ small kids.

I have done Whole30 once and plan to do it again. I am not trying to lose weight but I will tell you that when I shifted from focusing on cardio over strength training (2-3 30-min sessions per week cardio + one 50-min strength session) to focusing on strength over cardio (two 50-min strength training sessions + 1-2 30-min cardio per week) it made a huge difference. I actually lost about 4 lbs and I am serious, I did not try to cut calories. BUT, I did happen to do the Whole30 around then. This is to contradict PP who says Whole30ers don't exercise. Another idea that my brother & his wife do is P90X. They do it once or twice a year to lose some weight & reset in the same way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After a year of "dieting" with no results I need to do something drastic to start to make progress on losing these 25 extra pounds. Whole 30 seems to have worked for others. Where should I start? Any better options?

No you don't.

Do you know how to cook?

Cook healthy meals. Drink water. Cut out alcohol. Don't buy mocha-flavored-whatever at Starbucks.

Walk every day.

I agree. If you really have 25 lbs to lose and can't move the scale by eating healthy and exercising, a fad won't help you much.

Why don't you two go away.

We'll go away when the next fad comes along. Seriously, why does everyone feel the need to do something dramatic? It takes time and effort to lose weight. Why do you think the diet industry makes $$$ off people desperately trying to lose weight?

+1000

Exactly. No one I know who does Whole 30 exercises at all. Probably because they're too tired. Then they wonder why the weight comes back.

I'm on day 9 of my first Whole 30. BF and I are doing it together to identify what has been giving him stomachaches and I'm curious to see if it will help me with some skin issues. It was one of the easier elimination type diets out there.

Planning is critical. And while yes, your grocery budget will go up, your eat-out budget will go down significantly. What I'm really enjoying is how many new recipes we're finding.

Some compliant basics will be challenging to find -- like ketchup and broths/stocks etc. Sugar is in everything.

Anonymous wrote:The processed food PP is unintentionally hilarious.

Hi smug bitch, it's me. All the "processed" foods I listed have five ingredients or so none of which are white flour,sugar, preservatives, chemicals or artificial ingredients. Unless you are killing, cleaning and curing your own meat, going out in the paddy and collecting your own rice, sourcing all secondary and tertiary ingredients down to the spices and seasonings and oils you use, YOU TOO are eating "processed foods."

Idiot.

Agree that the Whole30 should not be about losing weight but about identifying and reducing our addiction to additives, starches and sugar. We did it a year ago and lost some weight but the best part of it was finding real changes that were sustainable. We still eat a lot of spaghetti squash, zoodles, and cauliflower rice in place of starches. I have completely eliminated artificial sweeteners and snack foods like pretzels and crackers. We do eat legumes and some dairy and occasional starches like oatmeal or rice.

I agree with the advice to prepare, prepare, prepare. The recommendation to have cut up vegetables and even steam-saute some on Sunday is right on. We spent a ton of time preparing and cooking. Have something on hand that you can eat in a pinch, like applesauce, nuts, hard-boiled eggs or dates when you get desperate. I made and kept around paleo stir fry sauces for a quick dinner with whatever veggies we had on hand. We also did "garbage soup" which was a staple for easy meals or snacks.

They tell you right off the bat that Whole30 is not primarily about losing weight. It's about stripping as much of the crap from your diet as possible so you can see what your baseline is. That's why it's only intended to be for 30 days.

Of course, the perk of getting rid of sugar and processed carbs is that you lose weight, but it is not the goal.

I'm just wrapping up my second week and the most challenging thing is that I am cooking ALL the time. I've never been big on snacks, but I make sure to have homemade "snacks" handy, along with some nuts and fruit, so that I'm not ever tempted to reach for chocolate (my former go-to snack) or buy a coffee confection.

PP who said prepare, prepare, prepare is spot on. Don't set yourself up for failure by being unprepared. And don't focus on what you can't have, focus on what you can. It's actually a lot.

But I don't plan to do this forever. I will definitely go back to having honey in my tea/coffee and enjoying the occasional hot chocolate. Legumes will return at some point, and my wine rack will most certainly be restocked. The rest though? I'm happy to do without. For me, it's about cultivating the habit of mindful eating.

But OP if all you want to do is lose weight, forget Whole30. Just cut the most egregious stuff from your diet and get in some exercise a few times a week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After a year of "dieting" with no results I need to do something drastic to start to make progress on losing these 25 extra pounds. Whole 30 seems to have worked for others. Where should I start? Any better options?

No you don't.

Do you know how to cook?

Cook healthy meals. Drink water. Cut out alcohol. Don't buy mocha-flavored-whatever at Starbucks.

Walk every day.

I agree. If you really have 25 lbs to lose and can't move the scale by eating healthy and exercising, a fad won't help you much.

Why don't you two go away.

We'll go away when the next fad comes along. Seriously, why does everyone feel the need to do something dramatic? It takes time and effort to lose weight. Why do you think the diet industry makes $$$ off people desperately trying to lose weight?

+1000

Because it is not that easy, if it were that easy, nobody would have a weight problem. Sugar is addictive, people live busy lives and have limited time to cook. You don't have to be a jerk. Losing weight is hard, and sometimes people do better with a program.

Anonymous wrote:The processed food PP is unintentionally hilarious.

Whole 30 compliant ingredients are so hard to find. No one on the W30 forums blinks if you can find a sauasage or a red sauce that is compliant and it makes your life a bit easier.

The processed food PP is unintentionally hilarious.

Doing a third now but I'm having a hard time getting into it. The second one was a breeze. I don't use them to lose weight or need to (though if you have weight to lose I think it would help) but to sort of reset every 6 months or so. It's especially helpful after a very indulgent holiday season. For me, I like it because of the increased energy around week 2, the clearer skin, better sleep, and that it forces me to do things like eat vegetables and drink water, both of which I like but easily put off dealing with. I am bad about coffee for breakfast, no lunch, then huge dinner, which obviously isn't great for energy purposes and which whole30 helps break me of for awhile.

My fave w30 items: Tessemae's dressings and mayo, found at WF. Trader joes plantain chips, wholly guacamole cups, Larabars (pecan pie, cashew cookie and pineapple upside down cake are good and compliant). I will roast chicken with tandoori spice and do a curry chicken salad with compliant mayo, celery and grapes and eat it in lettuce leaves. Tacos in lettuce instead of tortillas are good. I get cauliflower crumbles by Green Giant at Target (perfect consistency) and steam them to use as rice. Last night was a rice bowl with cauliflower rice, sautéed zucchini and shrimp, a fried egg on top and some scallions and hot sauce.

Trader Joes spicy chicken Italian sausages are great and complaint. I sautée with onion and sweet peppers and serve with a compliant pasta sauce (I like Ethnic Cottage Jersey Tomato marinara at WF- so fresh tasting). Oh and curries! Just use Thai Kitchen curry paste as it doesn't have sugar. Chicken or shrimp, some potato, frozen green beans and a jar of curry paste and coconut milk is a very good basic curry. Also good over the cauliflower rice.

The biggest downside to me is constant planning because you have to have compliant foods at home at all times, and the lack of being able to really go out and eat. It's almost impossible to fully vet whether restaurants have snuck soy or sugar or vegetable oil or butter into their dishes so I usually just don't bother.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After a year of "dieting" with no results I need to do something drastic to start to make progress on losing these 25 extra pounds. Whole 30 seems to have worked for others. Where should I start? Any better options?

No you don't.

Do you know how to cook?

Cook healthy meals. Drink water. Cut out alcohol. Don't buy mocha-flavored-whatever at Starbucks.

Walk every day.

I agree. If you really have 25 lbs to lose and can't move the scale by eating healthy and exercising, a fad won't help you much.

Why don't you two go away.

We'll go away when the next fad comes along. Seriously, why does everyone feel the need to do something dramatic? It takes time and effort to lose weight. Why do you think the diet industry makes $$$ off people desperately trying to lose weight?

+1000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After a year of "dieting" with no results I need to do something drastic to start to make progress on losing these 25 extra pounds. Whole 30 seems to have worked for others. Where should I start? Any better options?

No you don't.

Do you know how to cook?

Cook healthy meals. Drink water. Cut out alcohol. Don't buy mocha-flavored-whatever at Starbucks.

Walk every day.

I agree. If you really have 25 lbs to lose and can't move the scale by eating healthy and exercising, a fad won't help you much.

Why don't you two go away.

We'll go away when the next fad comes along. Seriously, why does everyone feel the need to do something dramatic? It takes time and effort to lose weight. Why do you think the diet industry makes $$$ off people desperately trying to lose weight?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Start with the 'what you can eat' on the whole30 shopping list and focus on that rather than what you can't eat. It shifts your mindset.

Meal planning is key. Nothing super detailed, just try to think ahead before you go shopping.

Find snacks that work for you. I love larabars, but only a few qualify for whole30. Nuts and as much fruit as I want.

I'm on day 12. Last year I did this and I lost 2lbs a week.

So why are you doing it again? Unsustainable?

I actually adopted most of the changes in the diet and carried it through the year (sugar free sauces, peanut butter, coffee, spaghetti squash in lieu of pasta, nuts for snacks, etc). But I looove the holiday meals and allowed myself to enjoy desserts, dark chocolates from my kids for Christmas, delicious cheeses, wine and good bread. Now it's time to refocus and set myself back on my path.

I was just telling a coworker how easy it was for me this time around. Really it was just a matter of throwing out all the holiday splurges and not buying wine. The first whole30 was the toughest because I needed to build up a good list of recipes and snacks. Now I just am going back to what I was doing before the holidays and my whole 30 recipes are actually my families favorites.

PB is not whole30 compliant. No legumes.

But legumes hardly make you fat the way pasta and soda do.

Should've been more clear. I don't eat pb, I eat almond butter. The sugar free pb was a grocery list change for the kids. I brought them along for my ride.